Glenwood High School Hall of Fame

The Hall of Fame of Glenwood High School, which includes Ball High School and Chatham High School, was created to honor those individuals or groups whose actions or achievements in their chosen fields bring honor and distinction to the heritage of Glenwood High School.

Categories for Recognition

Achievement - Alumni of Glenwood High School whose distinguished actions have led to outstanding recognition in their chosen fields on a local, national, or international level.

Athletics - Alumni of Glenwood High School who have established outstanding records of achievement in their chosen sport which would make them deserving of special recognition. One team per year may be selected.

Service - Alumni, faculty, staff, or friends of Glenwood High School whose actions and/or achievements may not be recognized in the above, but are deserving of such recognition and honor.

Lifetime Recognition - Alumni of Glenwood High School who shall be out of school for at least 40 years and whose lives shall have reflected character and distinction.

Achievement

Grant Kopec, PhD (Class of 2000) has been selected for induction in the Glenwood Hall of Fame, Achievement category. After graduation from Glenwood, Dr. Kopec studied mechanical engineering for two years at the United States Air Force Academy, then transferred to the University of Illinois where earned a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering in 2004, and a Master’s degree in Nuclear Engineering in 2007. In 2008 he earned a Master’s of Philosophy in Technology Policy from the University of Cambridge in England, where he also received his Doctor of Philosophy degree in 2015. During this time, he developed mathematical algorithms and software for the reconciliation of scarce and conflicting energy, resource, and materia data, thereby expanding the capability to construct complete and accurate maps of production and use. “I specifically studied the connections between our use of energy, water, and land resources in California and China,” he says. “In partnership with BP and the University of Cambridge, I used that research to launch a start-up company focused on providing real time risk intelligence to the energy sector.”

Currently he is an engineer and entrepreneur who has focused his career on improving the way people extract and use natural resources. His career to date has taken him across the energy, power generation, and mining industries. He says he’s made many mistakes thus far, but one particular lesson that sticks in his mind is that technology alone can’t solve our problems. “Even as a technology entrepreneur my work is only 1/3 focused on the technology we build, and 2/3 on how we can use that technology to support people who can make lasting positive changes,” he says.

Dr. Kopec is currently the Field Operations Director at IntelliSense.io, a rapidly growing United Kingdom based start-up that builds artificial intelligence software to make the mining industry more sustainable, efficient, and safe. He is responsible for leading the delivery of cutting edge technology to miners to solve their most pressing problems. This has led him to locations that he never dreamed he would visit, including both the steppes of Kazakhstan in the dead of winter, and the middle of the Chilean dessert in the height of summer!

IntelliSense has grown from a few people in an office in Cambridge, England to having offices and clients in South America, Central Asia, Africa, and Australia.

Previously, he was the first Director of the Energy@Cambridge Strategic Initiative, working to start up and coordinate large energy research programs at the University of Cambridge. He also has worked as an engineer and researcher across a wide variety of topics in energy, nuclear sciences, and international policy.

He currently lives in Cambridge, England with his wife, Annabelle, and two young children. In their free time, they love sailing, cycling, and woodworking.

​

Service

Mr. Bob Hansen has been selected for induction in the Glenwood Hall of Fame, Service category. Bob has served the Ball-Chatham School District for over 35 years in many different volunteer roles, from working concessions, to keeping the clock/scoreboard at hundreds of games. He says that, as a former college athlete, and former high school teacher and coach, he had and still has, a high appreciation for watching high school athletics participate in varying sports.

When his oldest son, Jeff, entered Glenwood Junior High, he and his wife, Karen, attended all of the sporting events that his son participated in and ended up joining the Glenwood Athletic Boosters. While their son was in junior high, most of their time involved working in the concessions stand. As the years passed, Bob became more involved with various school duties, including officiating when someone didn’t show up, taking athletic photos of various sports for inclusion in the Chatham Clarion, dusting gym floors, taking tickets, timing track events, announcing games, and keeping the clock or scoreboard.

During their son’s high school years, Bob continued attending all of his games, and eventually became an officer in the Glenwood Athletic Boosters; and later became President. This new position brought on a lot more responsibilities, and a lot more time being spent at school, learning about sports that he was not that familiar with (i.e., volleyball, wrestling, cross country, etc.). He was also elected to serve as the President of the Glenwood Football Boosters program. While he was spending so much time at the school, he got to meet many of the athletes’ parents, school officials (every one from the superintendent, principals, and athletic director, to the building custodians), opposing coaches, officials, and most importantly the young men and ladies who represent our school and community. While not directly related to Glenwood High School sports, he served as a Regional Director for PONY Baseball and Softball for 25 years, and says he hopes that had a small impact on the school’s baseball and softball programs.

In 2005, he was inducted into the Illinois Basketball Coaches Hall of Fame as a Friend of the sport. In his 35+ years with the school, he says he has made a lot of friends, worked side-by-side with thousands of Athletic Boosters, and had what he thinks was the best seat in the house, the scorer’s table. “I have witnessed all of the many great athletes the school has produced since the early 1980s, and all my time at the school has all been worth it,” he says.

​

Lifetime Recognition

Mrs. Thelma McCulley has been selected for induction in the Glenwood Hall of Fame, Lifetime Recognition category. Mrs. McCulley attended Caldwell Grade School through the eighth grade, and graduated from Chatham High School in 1945 (during World War II). She then attended Brown’s Business College in Springfield for one year, and had been employed at Central Illinois Light Company for three years when she married her high school sweetheart, Marvin McCulley, in 1949. Mr. McCulley and she began their family in 1952 - having one son (Jerry), and daughter (Marlene Perry). They have six grandchildren, ten great grandchildren, who all live in the area with the exception of one grandchild who lives in Indianapolis. She says she realizes how blessed she is to have family living close to her.

She says she heard about an opening for a secretary in the new Glenwood High School beginning with the 1957-58 school year. She applied and was hired. She worked full-time one school year in the GHS office. During the second semester, Mr. John Nevius, who was secretary of the Board of Education at that time, became ill. She started doing his work and attended school board meetings and recorded the minutes as part of that work. She decided at the end of the 1957-58 year that she needed to be home with her two children, who were five and three at the time.

She was asked if she would continue as the District Bookeeper and Clerk of the School Board. She agreed, but only if she could work from home, which she did until the fall of 1971. At that time, a modular building was place on the west boundary of Chatham Elementary School, and that became the District Office, with Supt. William Hovey, Asst. Supt. Don Kauerauf, and three office employees. She worked full-time in the District Office until the end of the 1981-82 school year, when she resigned as the District Bookkeeper, but continued as Clerk of the School Board until April of 1987. By this time, she had three grandchildren, and more on the way so she needed more time to devote to them.

With the opening of the 1982-83 school year, she became a school bus driver for the next five years, until she was able to retire early at age 60 on April 1, 1987. She worked for the Ball-Chatham School District for 30 years, just shy of two months, and have been retired for over 32 years.

​

​

​

Athletics/Team

2009 Girls Softball Team has been selected for induction in the Glenwood Hall of Fame, Athletics/Team category. Before the season started, the CS8 Conference coaches predicted Glenwood’s softball team would--at best--finish third. Admittedly, the season didn’t start as the team had hoped, losing two double headers: the first against Rock Island and the next against Rock Falls. However, the girls began to turn things around pretty quickly after that. Here are their accomplishments:

Central State 8 Champions - Their CS8 record was 13-1; their overall record was 28-9

Regional Champions - Defeated Quincy Notre Dame 3-2 on a one out, bases loaded single by Alyssa Esperum in the bottom of the 7th.

Sectional Champions- Defeating Decatur Eisenhower 1-0 on a two out single in the bottom of the 6th by Kasey Oliver.

Super Sectional Champions - Defeated Mattoon High School 3-2. After being down 2-0 going into the bottom of the 5th we scored one in the bottom of the 5th on a ground out by Cassandra Harvill; one in the bottom of the 6th on an RBI triple by Kaitlyn England; and one in the 7th on a 2 out, full count walk off single by Shelbi Tudor.

State Tournament Semi Final - Despite making eight errors in the game, the team walked away with a 4-2 win. They scored two in the top of the 7th inning to take a 4-2 lead. Pitcher Sarah Garrison was able to wiggle out of a bases loaded 1 out jam to secure the win.

Finished the season as State Runner-Up

The team won six games in the tournament. Four of those six were won in their last at-bat. The toughness and perseverance shown by this team was amazing. Playing until the end, overcoming adversity (eight errors in the state semifinals) was, and is, a true testament to the people inside the uniforms. Not bad for a team picked to maybe finish third in the conference!